This is sponsored by Understood, from CBC. From CBC, Understood goes deep on the current events, people, and cultural moments shaping society. Seasons span four episodes, hosted by journalists with an existing expertise on the story. Now accepting pitches.

Visit https://podnews.net/update/look-back-2024-harklist for all the links, and to get our newsletter.

Happy holidays - for many, it’s a last day in the office before two quiet weeks. For many more still, it’s podcasting as usual over the break, so we will be publishing as normal across the holiday period. We’ve got you!

• A special “Hark List” has been published: a look at the state of podcasting in 2024, with clips from a number of different shows. It’s hosted by our Editor, James Cridland, with clips from Buzzcast, Vergecast, our own Podnews Weekly Review, and plenty more. You can listen to it here, or, better, download the Hark app to listen and explore more new shows to listen to).
• The Podnews Weekly Review this week interviews, among others, Jessica Cordova-Kramer, the CEO of Lemonada Media. She talks about how the company has maintained high ad rates, and how they’re doing video, too. Here’s the full 30-minute interview on Podnews Extra.
• The Texas Creator Awards have been announced. Nominations are open until the end of January.

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• The iHeart app has been upgraded with lots of new features, a brave choice the day before a Christmas closedown!
• That Goalhanger ad we covered earlier in the week has got a lot of attention. One UK correspondent with a good memory has remembered this similar ad for BBC Sounds from October 2018. (The lack of now-playing thumbnails in the BBC Sounds one, in our view, makes it less obvious what’s going on).
• AI Audio platform Auddia is to sell up to twenty million shares at $0.001 per share, to raise more funds for the company, which makes an app that strips commercials out of podcasts and radio streams. It slipped below $1 a share in September and may come out of Nasdaq as a consequence; it said last month that it might run out of money altogether early next year.

Tips and tricks

• Searching for a last-minute gift for podcasters? Here’s a review of one - Make Noise, from Eric Nuzum. Or, there’s the brand new edition of Beyond Powerful Radio, from Valerie Geller; maybe Tom Webster’s guide to building a big podcast is more your thing, or there’s more in our bookstore.

Podcast News

• Timesuck with Dan Cummins seems to be advertising itself using fancy stickers in Brooklyn, NY. The show enthusiastically deep dives into everything from cults to killers to conspiracies, sharing the best of what is uncovered with everyone else. "Stopped me in my tracks!" said Podnews regional reporter Arielle Nissenblatt (we've made that title up, but who knows, it might be a thing).
• In September, Acquired had fancy billboards in San Francisco airport. The show covers the stories that built the world’s greatest companies. "Whoa! Aquired has billboards in the airport!" said Podnews regional reporter Justin Jackson (also not a real title)
• In August, the iHeart podcast Two Good Sports was super excited about appearing in billboards across Melbourne. The show was hosted by Abbey Gelmi and Georgie Tunny, breaking down the biggest sports stories and unpack the human drama (it's on pause while Abbey looks after a new addition to the family). Thank you, Podnews regional reporter Corey Layton (that's not his real job)
• In June, Calm History was recommended on NBC5 Chicago, says host of the show and Podnews regional reporter Harris (they only do one of these things in reality).

Spot some marketing for podcasts in the real world? Hit reply and send us a (landscape) photograph.

Gold supporters: Sounds Profitable, Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The $100 MBA, The Podglomerate, audioBoom, Podscribe, Simplecast, SALT, Steve Lack: Audio, Cohost, Audiohook, RedCircle, Resound, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Disctopia, Podpage websites, Libsyn, We Edit Podcasts, Evergreen Podcasts, Knucklehead Media Group

Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, PodLabs - Podcast Experimentatio, Magellan AI, Ausha, Truefans, Red Seat Ventures, Huberman Lab, Frequency, Jonekiri, Voxtopica, Tink Media, Gilded Audio, The Podcast Haven, POW PR, Gumball, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Podium , The Roost, PlayPodcast, Storyboard, Cloud10, SoundStack, Deepcast, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Lemonada Media, Blubrry, Ossa Collective, Castos, Diversion Podcasts, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Headliner, Transistor, Optimal Living Daily, Oxford Road, Rhapsody Voices, matchmaker.fm, Wondery, Heartcast Media50, Jam Street Media, Zvook, Podcast Taxi, Double Elvis Productions, Rephonic, Podcast Partnership, Ad Results Media, Hear.Here.Singapore, StreamGuys, Content10x, Cleanfeed, She Podcasts, Podcast Movement, School of Podcasting, Adopter Media, Lower Street, Podigy, Sonix, Revolver Podcasts, Signal Hill Insights, Edison Research

Our personal supporters: Eric Montgomery, Amy Woods, John, Jessica Alpert Silber, Armel, Oludotun Oyebolu, Mikel Ellcessor, Gene Monterastelli, Ed Sullivan, Neil Mody, Lindsay Graham, David Lloyd, Steven Goldstein, Matt Wade, Mirko Lagonegro, Andy Maher, tony@virtualcouch.xyz, Kara Silverman, Eric Hunley, Liz Covart, Owen Grover, Justin Jackson, Karen Jackson, CESLIE Armstrong, Søren Hugger Møller, Josh Withers, Mike R, Michael Dell, Eric Nuzum, Benjamin Masse, Brett Johnson, Mark Ramsey, Helene Pawlitzki, Steve Stewart, Pete Morgan, Jody Avirgan, Joe Stone, ShEvo (Sheila Dee & Evo Terra), Buzz Knight, Jaz Garewal, Stephanie Arakelian, Kerry Donahue, Graeme Klass, Tony Garcia, We Are Libertarians, Stew Redwine, Dave Beasing, Jeremy McCarter, Meggan Ellingboe, EarBuds Podcast Collective, Andy Bowers, Mary Dooe, Alicia Mackey Huber, Paul Vogelzang, Vanessa Harris, Rekha Murthy, Mohammad Ali, Suzanne Schultz, Joanne Phillips, Niall Mackay, Courtney Reimer, Brandon Schexnayder, Don MacKinnon, Jeremy Enns from Podcast Marketing Academy, Sam Phelps, Doug Downs, Tom Teodorczuk, Lex Friedman, Larry Rosin, Stacey Goers, Bryan Barletta, Gavin, Charles Spivey, Ken Beyer, Bubbe Ann Schockett, Darius Derakshan, Stefano Mangone, Dave Campbell, Cindy Howes, TWRS, Anastasia Violet Lipske, Chris Peterson

Readers and supporters

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Every week, the Podnews Weekly Review is the last word in podcasting news - with a look back at the most important news in podcasting, and interviews with the people that matter.Hear from James Cridland, the Editor of Podnews; Sam Sethi, the CEO of Truefans; and interviews with the people that matter.The Podnews Weekly Review. With Buzzsprout - podcast hosting made easy.

Find us wherever you get this podcast.

This is sponsored by Understood, from CBC. From CBC, Understood goes deep on the current events, people, and cultural moments shaping society. Seasons span four episodes, hosted by journalists with an existing expertise on the story. Now accepting pitches.

Visit https://podnews.net/update/podcast-market-size for all the links, and to get our newsletter.

• How big is the global podcast market? Justin Jackson’s research website has increased its estimates. It suggests that 2024 saw around $3-3.4bn in global ad-sales; that the hosting business is worth around $100-150mn, and that podcast events and conferences are worth $15-20mn. The estimates don’t include YouTube. Sources are given: and it’s open for others to contribute. The IAB estimated US podcast ad revenue at $1.95bn for 2023.
• Google has launched a new tool made to “transform your content into AI-generated audio discussions”. And, in much the same way as the company has five different messaging apps, this one is called Google Illuminate AI, which seems to be much the same as another product from the company, Google NotebookLM. Some people suggest it’s a little better; we’ve noticed the voices sound a little different. Meanwhile, in Google NotebookLM, you can now talk to the AI podcast hosts, which you can’t do with the AI podcast hosts in Illuminate AI. There’s a strategy here, if only we could see it.
• Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso is to switch from Pushkin to Lemonada Media. It will begin releasing episodes under the Lemonada banner on January 5th.

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• In New York, Colture Podcast Network has welcomed SickBird Productions to its slate. The female-led production company adds four titles to Colture’s roster.
• Audio Flux is holding its first-ever fund-raiser. The page contains details of what the organisation has achieved over the past year, including more than 160 different audio works.
• The deadline for nominations for the Spanish-language Premios Ondas Globales del Podcast has been extended to Jan 7. ¡Buena suerte!
• A day after Podnews revealed layoffs and impaired operations at TuneIn, Radio France has signed a distribution deal with Radioline. “This balanced partnership relationship is based on commitments that guarantee Radio France a controlled and respectful distribution of its content.”
• RedCircle published its Podcast Trends in 2024.

Tips and tricks

• Hindenburg’s storytelling Advent Calendar yesterday covered editing morals and ethics. (One of the criticisms about AI tools is that they can “fake” what a guest says - but, guess what, so can a good audio editor...)

Podcast News

• The New Hampshire podcast Seacoast Stories now has a beer named after it. Loaded Question Brewing of Portsmouth NH has made it in collaboration with the podcast. We're told it's a clean IPA bursting with notes of orange, papaya and grapefruit, balanced with a touch of dankness and caramel, but we'll only really know if they send us some.
• Lava for Good's Wrongful Conviction will be available in more than a thousand prisons across the US, after a partnership with learning platform Edovo. "We’re helping to educate and inspire incarcerated learners on their journeys toward justice and redemption," said CEO Jason Flom.
• The It Is What It Is podcast has announced a US and Canadian tour. The show features platinum-selling recording artists Ma$e and Cam’ron with Treasure "Stat Baby" Wilson; all shows will be recorded for a live episode, with surprise guests in each city.
• A new podcast focusing on Canadian business, The Moment, has been announced by Quill and Canadian Business. The new podcast series that brings listeners inside the pivotal moments that define the journeys of Canada’s most innovative founders and entrepreneurs - and will be hosted by Fatima Zaidi and Jason Maghanoy. It starts next month.
• How important are English football clubs to the communities they serve? Rolling With The Punches looks at Ipswich Town FC, a football club worth over 200 million pounds, suddenly back in the Premier League, and with owners keen to capitalise on the momentum built over the last three years.

Gold supporters: Sounds Profitable, Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The $100 MBA, The Podglomerate, audioBoom, Cohost, SALT, Audiohook, Podscribe, Steve Lack: Audio, Resound, Simplecast, RedCircle, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Evergreen Podcasts, Podpage websites, Disctopia, We Edit Podcasts, Knucklehead Media Group, Libsyn

Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, PodLabs - Podcast Experimentatio, Magellan AI, Huberman Lab, Red Seat Ventures, Voxtopica, SoundStack, PlayPodcast, Ausha, Podium , Truefans, Cloud10, Frequency, POW PR, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Gilded Audio, Deepcast, Jonekiri, Storyboard, The Podcast Haven, The Roost, Tink Media, Gumball, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Diversion Podcasts, Rephonic, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Heartcast Media50, Headliner, Zvook, Castos, Double Elvis Productions, Rhapsody Voices, Lemonada Media, Wondery, Podcast Taxi, Transistor, Jam Street Media, Optimal Living Daily, Blubrry, matchmaker.fm, Ossa Collective, Oxford Road, Hear.Here.Singapore, Ad Results Media, Podcast Partnership, StreamGuys, Content10x, She Podcasts, Cleanfeed, Revolver Podcasts, Podcast Movement, Sonix, Podigy, Adopter Media, Lower Street, School of Podcasting, Edison Research, Signal Hill Insights

Our personal supporters: Eric Montgomery, Amy Woods, John, Jessica Alpert Silber, Armel, Oludotun Oyebolu, Mikel Ellcessor, Gene Monterastelli, Ed Sullivan, Neil Mody, Lindsay Graham, David Lloyd, Steven Goldstein, Matt Wade, Mirko Lagonegro, Andy Maher, tony@virtualcouch.xyz, Kara Silverman, Eric Hunley, Liz Covart, Owen Grover, Justin Jackson, Karen Jackson, CESLIE Armstrong, Søren Hugger Møller, Josh Withers, Mike R, Michael Dell, Eric Nuzum, Benjamin Masse, Brett Johnson, Mark Ramsey, Helene Pawlitzki, Steve Stewart, Pete Morgan, Jody Avirgan, Joe Stone, ShEvo (Sheila Dee & Evo Terra), Buzz Knight, Jaz Garewal, Stephanie Arakelian, Kerry Donahue, Graeme Klass, Tony Garcia, We Are Libertarians, Stew Redwine, Dave Beasing, Jeremy McCarter, Meggan Ellingboe, EarBuds Podcast Collective, Andy Bowers, Mary Dooe, Alicia Mackey Huber, Paul Vogelzang, Vanessa Harris, Rekha Murthy, Mohammad Ali, Suzanne Schultz, Joanne Phillips, Niall Mackay, Courtney Reimer, Brandon Schexnayder, Don MacKinnon, Jeremy Enns from Podcast Marketing Academy, Sam Phelps, Doug Downs, Tom Teodorczuk, Lex Friedman, Larry Rosin, Stacey Goers, Bryan Barletta, Gavin, Charles Spivey, Ken Beyer, Bubbe Ann Schockett, Darius Derakshan, Stefano Mangone, Dave Campbell, Cindy Howes, TWRS, Anastasia Violet Lipske, Chris Peterson

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This is sponsored by Understood, from CBC. From CBC, Understood goes deep on the current events, people, and cultural moments shaping society. Seasons span four episodes, hosted by journalists with an existing expertise on the story. Now accepting pitches.

Visit https://podnews.net/update/tunein-tuning-out for all the links, and to get our newsletter.

• TuneIn appears to have tuned away from podcasts. After three sets of layoffs, which have not been reported until today, the company hasn’t let creators add new podcasts for the last ten months. It is also not communicating with content creators.
• Podscribe has launched a new, real-time podcast ranker. It monitors YouTube as well as podcasts, and offers demographic data, “rising” shows (so you can spot shows that are going viral), and works using both Podscribe’s existing prefixes and campaign pixels. It’s available to Podscribe clients; the company will also release monthly emails with ranker data.
• On Air Fest has published more speakers for its Brooklyn event in mid-February. Speakers include Taylor Lorenz, Dan Taberski, and Ashley Carman.

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• The IAB has published “creative best practices in podcasting”, with a set of examples of host reads, pre-rolls, branded segments and others.
• Edison Research published its Latino Podcast Listener Report 2024. In the last four years, the number of Latinos who are monthly podcast listeners has increased by 72%. For the first time, Latino podcast listening is 50% women, 50% men.
• Mumbler has looked at the top 100 podcasts in Spain - publish cadence, durations, and even cover art colour. The average duration, if you’re wondering, is 57.9 minutes per episode. That said, a quarter of all top shows are less than 30 minutes.
• Libsyn has published the results of its share tender offer. The company purchased 6mn shares for a total of $8.6mn (an apparent price of around $1.43). The company has around 30mn shares.
• Tommy Walters from Acast publishes five trends from podcasting in 2024. One of those: “Podcasting Takes Center Stage in Politics and Day-to-Day Life”.

Focus

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Tips and tricks

• Besides Apple, Spotify and YouTube there are plenty of places to add your podcast. We’ve updated our Big List of shows (not least, added a little mention about the difficulty of getting into TuneIn these days).
• How can you keep your listeners listening? Frank Racioppi writes about Solving the Listener Retention Problem

Podcast News

• Practical Stoicism has been acquired by Evergreen Podcasts. The podcast joined the Evergreen Podcasts slate this January; now the show is owned by Evergreen, and Tanner Campbell will be employed by them to host and produce the podcast.
• Say What You Mean with Aida Rodriguez has joined the fwd. network. The show explores the power of words—and the moments when people wish they had spoken up but were stifled by fear or uncertainty. Rodriguez is a writer and commentator.
• The You Better You Bet podcast and live show has been added to the FAST channel of NBC Sports. It's the latest podcast making its way to FAST channels; it's now available on Peacock and all major FAST channel platforms.
• Conservation calls releases a special episode today, celebrating fifteen years of species conservation and hearing from many recipients of the MBZ Species Conservation Fund. The fund has supported over 2,800 projects across 170 countries where it discovered, reintroduced and protected over 1,700 species from extinction.
• Before We Go will return for a second season, it's been announced. Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, who is also host of TED Health, announced the return of both yesterday. “I’m deeply moved by the audience’s response to TED Health and Before We Go, and I’m honored to continue these meaningful conversations,” she said.

Gold supporters: Sounds Profitable, Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The $100 MBA, The Podglomerate, Audiohook, Simplecast, Podscribe, Steve Lack: Audio, Resound, SALT, audioBoom, Cohost, RedCircle, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Knucklehead Media Group, We Edit Podcasts, Disctopia, Evergreen Podcasts, Podpage websites, Libsyn

Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, PodLabs - Podcast Experimentatio, Magellan AI, Cloud10, Huberman Lab, Deepcast, Red Seat Ventures, Voxtopica, SoundStack, Storyboard, Podium , Ausha, The Podcast Haven, The Roost, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Jonekiri, Frequency, Gumball, Tink Media, POW PR, Gilded Audio, Truefans, PlayPodcast, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Jam Street Media, Rhapsody Voices, Ossa Collective, Diversion Podcasts, Zvook, Heartcast Media50, Transistor, Castos, Double Elvis Productions, Headliner, Blubrry, Podcast Taxi, Sonic Influencer Marketing, matchmaker.fm, Oxford Road, Rephonic, Wondery, Optimal Living Daily, Lemonada Media, StreamGuys, Hear.Here.Singapore, Podcast Partnership, Content10x, Ad Results Media, Cleanfeed, She Podcasts, Lower Street, Sonix, School of Podcasting, Adopter Media, Revolver Podcasts, Podigy, Podcast Movement, Edison Research, Signal Hill Insights

Our personal supporters: Eric Montgomery, Amy Woods, John, Jessica Alpert Silber, Armel, Oludotun Oyebolu, Mikel Ellcessor, Gene Monterastelli, Ed Sullivan, Neil Mody, Lindsay Graham, David Lloyd, Steven Goldstein, Matt Wade, Mirko Lagonegro, Andy Maher, tony@virtualcouch.xyz, Kara Silverman, Eric Hunley, Liz Covart, Owen Grover, Justin Jackson, Karen Jackson, CESLIE Armstrong, Søren Hugger Møller, Josh Withers, Mike R, Michael Dell, Eric Nuzum, Benjamin Masse, Brett Johnson, Mark Ramsey, Helene Pawlitzki, Steve Stewart, Pete Morgan, Jody Avirgan, Joe Stone, ShEvo (Sheila Dee & Evo Terra), Buzz Knight, Jaz Garewal, Stephanie Arakelian, Kerry Donahue, Graeme Klass, Tony Garcia, We Are Libertarians, Stew Redwine, Dave Beasing, Jeremy McCarter, Meggan Ellingboe, EarBuds Podcast Collective, Andy Bowers, Mary Dooe, Alicia Mackey Huber, Paul Vogelzang, Vanessa Harris, Rekha Murthy, Mohammad Ali, Suzanne Schultz, Joanne Phillips, Niall Mackay, Courtney Reimer, Brandon Schexnayder, Don MacKinnon, Jeremy Enns from Podcast Marketing Academy, Sam Phelps, Doug Downs, Tom Teodorczuk, Lex Friedman, Larry Rosin, Stacey Goers, Bryan Barletta, Gavin, Charles Spivey, Ken Beyer, Bubbe Ann Schockett, Darius Derakshan, Stefano Mangone, Dave Campbell, Cindy Howes, TWRS, Anastasia Violet Lipske, Chris Peterson

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Support us

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This is sponsored by Understood, from CBC. From CBC, Understood goes deep on the current events, people, and cultural moments shaping society. Seasons span four episodes, hosted by journalists with an existing expertise on the story. Now accepting pitches.

Visit https://podnews.net/update/goalhanger-ads for all the links, and to get our newsletter.

• The UK’s Goalhanger has launched its first multichannel ad campaign, in partnership with Spotify. The video ads, which will be shown across social media, show Spotify users switching between individual podcasts (though the “p” word isn’t used) - is it the best ad for a podcast company yet? You can watch it here.
• Lower Street has announced speakers for its Brand Podcast Virtual Summit 2025 - including brand new research from Signal Hill Insights, the Branded Podcast Benchmark Report. Other speakers include experts from the New York Times, Morgan Stanley, and Jay Acunzo. The event is free.
• Yesterday, we reported on Licensync, an Italian company charging for linking to podcasts. While ASSIPOD, the Italian Podcasting Association is listed as a partner on Licensync’s website, ASSIPOD have told us that they are not a partner; that their logo is used on the website without authorisation; and they have already requested its removal. We’ve asked Licensync for comment; and added ASSIPOD’s statement to the article.

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• Data: Podimo has released the 2024 Global Trend Report, which looks into differences in podcast consumption across the world. True crime shows have quadrupled in popularity in Spain in the last year, especially with women; but in Norway, men are increasingly keen on history podcasts. In Denmark, 27% of listeners have spent more than three hours straight during a single day consuming podcasts or audiobooks.
• Users of the Castbox podcast app, one of the most popular apps in the world, will now see new monthly podcast recommendations within the app from Tink Media.
• YouTube released a look at how the video website is consumed on TV sets. The company says: “Podcast watching is growing rapidly on TVs. Viewers watched over 400mn hours of podcasts monthly on living room devices. They’ve been tuning into podcasts similarly to how one would tune into a late-night talk show.”
• DeepCast, which makes the DeepCast podcast discovery platform and DeepCast Pro, a podcast creator suite, has secured additional investment from a set of companies and venture firms, including Automattic, the owner of WordPress and Pocket Casts.
• Magellan AI released the top podcast advertisers for November 2024. BetterHelp once again hit #1 spot, with $8.6mn spent; Amazon was at #2, and T-Mobile at #3. The biggest mover was Bartesian, a cocktail maker that, just like a Nespresso, takes all the joy and fun out of crafting a drink makes a drink at the touch of a button.
• Podtrac released its Top Podcasts By Country lists for November 2024. The data is part-estimated.
• Help wanted: The BEA (Broadcast Education Association) has had more entries than ever for the annual BEA Festival of Media Arts. That means they need more reviewers and judges than first thought. If you have spare time over the next month and would like to be a reviewer (it’s a voluntary thing, but you’ll hear lots of great audio), please email help@BEAweb.org
• Further reading: Amanda McLoughlin from Multitude writes everything you need to know about Spotify’s pivot to video: “Avoid platform dependence at all costs.”

Thank you to Cameron Stack at PodLabs, the epicenter for podcast experimentation and projects, for becoming our latest supporter. Supporters pay for everyone’s access to Podnews - you can support us here.

Tips and tricks

• You can install Apple Podcasts on Android now. No, really - and it looks and works just like an app.

Podcast News

• Netflix is to tap into The Nat Coombs Show, one of the most popular National Football League (NFL) podcasts, to promote its exclusive NFL Christmas Day games. The campaign, running throughout December, includes host-read and announcer-read ads, as well as activity across Sport Social Podcast Network’s NFL and football verticals.
• In two Texas prisons, inmate DJs will air Scrooge: A Christmas Carol on prison radio stations on Christmas Eve, we learn. Additionally, the podcast will be uploaded to all TDCJ inmate tablets across the state, which will, we're told, allow inmates to listen to the podcast while their family simultaneously listens to it on radio stations in their communities. The podcast is written by Paul Cuschieri and produced by Mark Ramsey.
• Audio newspaper for a visual world, the satirical comedy show The Bugle started way back in 2007. With current host Andy Zaltzman, it was originally co-hosted by John Oliver, who spoilt everything by turning into a late night TV celebrity in the US instead. Excitingly, this week, John Oliver returns to the podcast after eight years. They cover Assad, FIFA and Trump - it's like he never left.
• TED Health has just announced its plans for season four, for anyone seeking captivating insights in health and wellness. Dr Shoshana Ungerleider will bring her expertise and warmth to a new slate of 20 extended episodes, diving even deeper into pressing health topics and answering questions listeners didn’t even know they had.

Gold supporters: Sounds Profitable, Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The $100 MBA, The Podglomerate, Podscribe, Audiohook, Simplecast, RedCircle, audioBoom, Cohost, SALT, Steve Lack: Audio, Resound, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Evergreen Podcasts, Podpage websites, Disctopia, Libsyn, We Edit Podcasts, Knucklehead Media Group

Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, PodLabs - Podcast Experimentatio, Magellan AI, Gumball, Deepcast, SoundStack, Tink Media, Gilded Audio, Jonekiri, Huberman Lab, Storyboard, Podium , The Roost, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Voxtopica, Red Seat Ventures, Ausha, POW PR, Cloud10, PlayPodcast, The Podcast Haven, Truefans, Frequency, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Castos, Jam Street Media, Lemonada Media, Double Elvis Productions, Ossa Collective, Zvook, Headliner, Heartcast Media50, Rephonic, Podcast Taxi, Optimal Living Daily, Diversion Podcasts, Wondery, Transistor, Blubrry, matchmaker.fm, Oxford Road, Rhapsody Voices, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Ad Results Media, Content10x, StreamGuys, Podcast Partnership, Hear.Here.Singapore, She Podcasts, Cleanfeed, Adopter Media, School of Podcasting, Revolver Podcasts, Podigy, Lower Street, Sonix, Podcast Movement, Edison Research, Signal Hill Insights

Our personal supporters: Eric Montgomery, Amy Woods, John, Jessica Alpert Silber, Armel, Oludotun Oyebolu, Mikel Ellcessor, Gene Monterastelli, Ed Sullivan, Neil Mody, Lindsay Graham, David Lloyd, Steven Goldstein, Matt Wade, Mirko Lagonegro, Andy Maher, tony@virtualcouch.xyz, Kara Silverman, Eric Hunley, Liz Covart, Owen Grover, Justin Jackson, Karen Jackson, CESLIE Armstrong, Søren Hugger Møller, Josh Withers, Mike R, Michael Dell, Eric Nuzum, Benjamin Masse, Brett Johnson, Mark Ramsey, Helene Pawlitzki, Steve Stewart, Pete Morgan, Jody Avirgan, Joe Stone, ShEvo (Sheila Dee & Evo Terra), Buzz Knight, Jaz Garewal, Stephanie Arakelian, Kerry Donahue, Graeme Klass, Tony Garcia, We Are Libertarians, Stew Redwine, Dave Beasing, Jeremy McCarter, Meggan Ellingboe, EarBuds Podcast Collective, Andy Bowers, Mary Dooe, Alicia Mackey Huber, Paul Vogelzang, Vanessa Harris, Rekha Murthy, Mohammad Ali, Suzanne Schultz, Joanne Phillips, Niall Mackay, Courtney Reimer, Brandon Schexnayder, Don MacKinnon, Jeremy Enns from Podcast Marketing Academy, Sam Phelps, Doug Downs, Tom Teodorczuk, Lex Friedman, Larry Rosin, Stacey Goers, Bryan Barletta, Gavin, Charles Spivey, Ken Beyer, Bubbe Ann Schockett, Darius Derakshan, Stefano Mangone, Dave Campbell, Cindy Howes, TWRS, Anastasia Violet Lipske, Chris Peterson

Readers and supporters

Support us

Image: Goalhanger

This is sponsored by Understood, from CBC. From CBC, Understood goes deep on the current events, people, and cultural moments shaping society. Seasons span four episodes, hosted by journalists with an existing expertise on the story. Now accepting pitches.

Visit https://podnews.net/update/licensync-payment-demands for all the links, and to get our newsletter.

• Exclusive: A company in Italy is sending invoices for more than $7,300 to multiple podcast directories and apps for listing six Italian podcasts. In a special report today, Podnews examines what Licensync is doing - and suggests that this is another reason why podcasting could benefit from a trade association to help protect our industry.
• A BBC World Service investigation has suggested that one of the world’s biggest podcasts, Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, has been accused of spreading fringe theories and harmful health information - including that cancer can be treated by following a keto diet, rather than proven treatments; and that gluten intake causes autism. The company that makes the show, Flight Studio, suggests it’s merely “freedom of expression”.
• Podcasthon is less than a hundred days away, in March next year. Doug Downs shares a little more about what the charity event is about, and how your podcast can take part.

Getting less than 1,000 downloads per episode? — Download your FREE Podcast Growth Scorecard! This tool helps you focus your podcast marketing so that you can spend your time on the marketing activities that have the most impact on podcast growth.

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• CoHost has published 28 expert podcast predictions for 2025. The rise of video, always-on podcasts and narrative formats are highlighted.
• Podcasting Made Simple - Live is a virtual event taking place on Jan 9 (11.30am-4pm ET), “focused on helping podcast guests and hosts improve their craft”. Tickets are $97; but here’s a secret link for free access from Podnews.
• Hosting service PodToo has announced a partnership with Ratuken Kobo, enabling PodToo’s audiobook publishers to offer their audiobooks directly to Kobo Books. The company has also launched SecureRSS, a method of securely selling audiobooks through RSS feeds.
• On LinkedIn, Jay Clouse publishes an impressive graph showing growth of a show on YouTube. He also links to advice and a $199 course to learn to do the same.

The Tech Stuff

• Is there a technically simple way to show comments for podcast episodes in a podcast app? The podcast:socialInteract tag should allow comments for podcast episodes across a wide variety of apps, but has never achieved the kind of take-up that has been desired. Is there a simpler way to achieve this? (With entirely standards-compliant RSS?)
• Worth taking a look at PodToo’s release about SecureRSS. The technology is described as “a new way to deliver content securely via RSS while protecting the content owners”.
• The Podcasting 2.0 podcast was the last for the year. Among other things, it talks about a “PWA”s and Apple Podcasts.

Tips and tricks

• Audio editor Hindenburg has published the Hindenburg Calendar, a daily set of hints and tips about audio storytelling. There are some great tips in here; it’s being updated daily.
  • We don’t get any money from it, but you can grab a three month trial of Hindenburg Pro 2 and a discount, just for being a Podnews reader.

Podcast News

• From CBC, Understood is an anthology podcast that takes you out of the daily news cycle and inside the events, people, and cultural moments you want to know more about - from crypto, to the Prime Minister of India, to Céline Dion. CBC is currently accepting pitches for the show.
• A new podcast aimed at demystifying healthcare, Wealth of Health, has been launched. Co-hosted by Ahmed Elbarkouki and Dr Paul Jenkins, the podcast aims to address common health concerns, provide accurate information on prevention and treatment options, and challenge misinformation. It's from Echelon Health.
• The Podnews Weekly Review this week talked with Shira Atkins of Wonder Media Network about their acquisition by Acast; Rob Greenlee about the Podcast Hall of Fame; and Daniel J Lewis about Podgagement.

Gold supporters: Sounds Profitable, Buzzsprout, Mowpod, Mamamia, The $100 MBA, The Podglomerate, audioBoom, Audiohook, Podscribe, Steve Lack: Audio, Simplecast, RedCircle, Cohost, SALT, Resound, Riverside.fm, Jar Audio, Podchaser, Awesound, Knucklehead Media Group, Evergreen Podcasts, We Edit Podcasts, Podpage websites, Disctopia, Libsyn

Silver supporters: Storic Media, Audacia Audio, Bumper, PodLabs - Podcast Experimentatio, Magellan AI, PlayPodcast, Gumball, SoundStack, Podium , The Roost, Voxtopica, POW PR, Gilded Audio, Storyboard, Ausha, The Podcast Haven, Deepcast, Truefans, ARN's iHeartPodcast Network Aust, Frequency, Huberman Lab, Tink Media, Red Seat Ventures, Cloud10, Jonekiri, Podcastpage, Message Heard, Health Podcast Network, Diversion Podcasts, Blubrry, Oxford Road, Lemonada Media, Wondery, Podcast Taxi, matchmaker.fm, Sonic Influencer Marketing, Optimal Living Daily, Rhapsody Voices, Zvook, Transistor, Jam Street Media, Castos, Double Elvis Productions, Rephonic, Heartcast Media50, Headliner, Ossa Collective, Hear.Here.Singapore, StreamGuys, Ad Results Media, Podcast Partnership, Content10x, Cleanfeed, She Podcasts, Podigy, Sonix, Lower Street, Revolver Podcasts, Podcast Movement, School of Podcasting, Adopter Media, Signal Hill Insights, Edison Research

Our personal supporters: Eric Montgomery, Amy Woods, John, Jessica Alpert Silber, Armel, Oludotun Oyebolu, Mikel Ellcessor, Gene Monterastelli, Ed Sullivan, Neil Mody, Lindsay Graham, David Lloyd, Steven Goldstein, Matt Wade, Mirko Lagonegro, Andy Maher, tony@virtualcouch.xyz, Kara Silverman, Eric Hunley, Liz Covart, Owen Grover, Justin Jackson, Karen Jackson, CESLIE Armstrong, Søren Hugger Møller, Josh Withers, Mike R, Michael Dell, Eric Nuzum, Benjamin Masse, Brett Johnson, Mark Ramsey, Helene Pawlitzki, Steve Stewart, Pete Morgan, Jody Avirgan, Joe Stone, ShEvo (Sheila Dee & Evo Terra), Buzz Knight, Jaz Garewal, Stephanie Arakelian, Kerry Donahue, Graeme Klass, Tony Garcia, We Are Libertarians, Stew Redwine, Dave Beasing, Jeremy McCarter, Meggan Ellingboe, EarBuds Podcast Collective, Andy Bowers, Mary Dooe, Alicia Mackey Huber, Paul Vogelzang, Vanessa Harris, Rekha Murthy, Mohammad Ali, Suzanne Schultz, Joanne Phillips, Niall Mackay, Courtney Reimer, Brandon Schexnayder, Don MacKinnon, Jeremy Enns from Podcast Marketing Academy, Sam Phelps, Doug Downs, Tom Teodorczuk, Lex Friedman, Larry Rosin, Stacey Goers, Bryan Barletta, Gavin, Charles Spivey, Ken Beyer, Bubbe Ann Schockett, Darius Derakshan, Stefano Mangone, Dave Campbell, Cindy Howes, TWRS, Anastasia Violet Lipske, Chris Peterson

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This is sponsored by Uncover, from CBC. From CBC, Uncover brings listeners explosive, high-caliber investigations and true crime series. CBC is currently accepting pitches from independents and publishers to be part of this successful podcast.

If you use it for analytics, you need to change things.

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This is sponsored by Uncover, from CBC. From CBC, Uncover brings listeners explosive, high-caliber investigations and true crime series. CBC is currently accepting pitches from independents and publishers to be part of this successful podcast.

The author's company will add its shows to Lemonada Media's slate

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This is sponsored by Uncover, from CBC. From CBC, Uncover brings listeners explosive, high-caliber investigations and true crime series. CBC is currently accepting pitches from independents and publishers to be part of this successful podcast.

You can now install it so it works just like an app

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